"Warning: ultra-processed": an online experiment examining the impact of ultra-processed warning labels on consumers' product perceptions and behavioral intentions.

IF 5.6 1区 医学 Q1 NUTRITION & DIETETICS
Aline D'Angelo Campos, Shu Wen Ng, Ana Clara Duran, Neha Khandpur, Lindsey Smith Taillie, Fernanda O Christon, Marissa G Hall
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Nutrient content and degree of processing are complementary but distinct concepts, and a growing body of evidence shows that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can have detrimental health effects independently from nutrient content. 10 + countries currently mandate front-of-package labels (FOPL) to inform consumers when products are high in added sugars, saturated fat, and/or sodium. Public health advocates have been calling for the addition of ultra-processed warning labels to these FOPLs, but the extent to which consumers would understand and be influenced by such labels remains unknown. We examined whether the addition of ultra-processed warning labels to existing nutrient warning labels could influence consumers' product perceptions and purchase intentions.

Methods: In 2023, a sample of adults in Brazil (n = 1,004) answered an open-ended question about the meaning of the term "ultra-processed," followed by an online experiment where they saw four ultra-processed products carrying warning labels. Participants were randomly assigned to view either only nutrient warning labels or nutrient plus ultra-processed warning labels. Participants then answered questions about their intentions to purchase the products, product perceptions, and perceived label effectiveness.

Results: Most participants (69%) exhibited a moderate understanding of the term "ultra-processed" prior to the experiment. The addition of an ultra-processed warning label led to a higher share of participants who correctly identified the products as UPFs compared to nutrient warning labels alone (Cohen's d = 0.16, p = 0.02). However, the addition of the ultra-processed warning label did not significantly influence purchase intentions, product healthfulness perceptions, or perceived label effectiveness compared to nutrient warning labels alone (all p > 0.05). In exploratory analyses, demographic characteristics and prior understanding of the concept of UPF did not moderate the effect of ultra-processed warning labels.

Conclusions: Ultra-processed warning labels may help consumers better identify UPFs, although they do not seem to influence behavioral intentions and product perceptions beyond the influence already exerted by nutrient warning labels. Future research should examine how ultra-processed warning labels would work for products that do and do not require nutrient warnings, as well as examine the benefits of labeling approaches that signal the health effects of UPFs.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05842460. Prospectively registered March 15th, 2023.

"警告:超加工":一项在线实验,研究超加工警告标签对消费者产品认知和行为意向的影响。
背景:营养成分含量和加工程度是互为补充但又截然不同的概念,越来越多的证据表明,超加工食品(UPFs)会对健康产生不利影响,而与营养成分含量无关。目前有 10 多个国家强制要求在产品包装前贴上标签(FOPL),以告知消费者产品的添加糖、饱和脂肪和/或钠含量较高。公共卫生倡导者一直呼吁在这些包装前标签中添加超标加工警告标签,但消费者对此类标签的理解和受其影响的程度仍是未知数。我们研究了在现有的营养警告标签上增加超加工警告标签是否会影响消费者的产品认知和购买意向:2023年,巴西的一个成人样本(n = 1,004)回答了一个关于 "超标加工 "一词含义的开放式问题,随后进行了一个在线实验,让他们观看四种带有警告标签的超标加工产品。参与者被随机分配到只查看营养素警告标签或营养素加超标加工警告标签。然后,参与者回答了有关他们购买产品的意向、对产品的看法以及感知标签有效性的问题:大多数参与者(69%)在实验前对 "超加工 "一词有一定的了解。与仅使用营养素警示标签相比,添加超临界加工警示标签后,正确识别产品为超临界食品的参与者比例更高(Cohen's d = 0.16,p = 0.02)。然而,与单独的营养素警告标签相比,添加超加工警告标签对购买意向、产品健康感知或感知标签有效性并无显著影响(均 p > 0.05)。在探索性分析中,人口统计特征和先前对 UPF 概念的理解并不影响超加工警示标签的效果:结论:超加工警示标签可以帮助消费者更好地识别 UPF,尽管它们对行为意向和产品认知的影响似乎并没有超过营养素警示标签已经产生的影响。未来的研究应考察超加工警示标签对需要和不需要营养素警示的产品的作用,并考察标示UPFs健康影响的标签方法的益处:试验注册:ClinicalTrials.gov,NCT05842460。前瞻性注册日期:2023年3月15日。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
13.80
自引率
3.40%
发文量
138
审稿时长
4-8 weeks
期刊介绍: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (IJBNPA) is an open access, peer-reviewed journal offering high quality articles, rapid publication and wide diffusion in the public domain. IJBNPA is devoted to furthering the understanding of the behavioral aspects of diet and physical activity and is unique in its inclusion of multiple levels of analysis, including populations, groups and individuals and its inclusion of epidemiology, and behavioral, theoretical and measurement research areas.
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